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QPR face Boro as Strachan hunts first win - full match preview
QPR face Boro as Strachan hunts first win - full match preview
Friday, 4th Dec 2009 10:10

QPR welcome former Premiership side Middlesbrough to Loftus Road on Saturday as part of a weekend double header that will see Jim Magilton's men face Watford away on Monday night.

Queens Park Rangers (5th) v Middlesbrough (10th)
Coca Cola Championship
Saturday December 5, Kick Off 3pm
Loftus Road, London, W12


Football fans more than any other group of people pay far too much attention to what has gone before. While it’s important to remember your club’s history and where it has come from, the fact that you haven’t lost against a side since 1915 has no bearing whatsoever on whether you’ll win or lose against them this year. Yet football fans peer at Soccer Saturday prior to kick off and tut as the ticker at the bottom tells us Preston have taken something from six of their last ten visits to Loftus Road (they lost 4-0 this time just to prove my point).

I remember when Lee Camp was at Rangers his dad would ask me before the games what sort of a record we had against our opposition and furrow his brow if I told him it wasn’t good or sound very optimistic if we’d beaten them a few times. In the end only in a few very extreme examples does there seem to be a genuine pattern – QPR have never, ever won at Nottingham Forest for example, while Barnsley get beaten at Loftus Road religiously.

As, it seems, do Middlesbrough. Boro have been to Loftus Road 19 times without success and although they’ve been close – who can forget Andy Sinton’s last gasp penalty in 1992 after Impey’s piledriver had come down off the underside of the bar and stayed out a moment before – they’ve had some right thrashings as well. But then coming at it from the other angle new managers tend to win their first few games as well and Gordon Strachan is without a win in four coming into this – he got his first wins at Southampton and Coventry in his fifth matches in charge. So which nonsense hoo doo do we go with this Saturday?

Simple, we don’t. We turn up and enjoy the football, and with Taarabt, Simpson, Buzsaky, Routledge, Johnson, Kitson and others on show there should be plenty to enjoy. On paper this will be tough. Our centre half with pace is out of favour and Leroy Lita is in town, our centre half that can head the ball was also benched last week and Dave Kitson is set to start. Needless to say Stewart and Gorkss would be my pick this weekend to perfectly counteract what Boro are bringing to the table. I fear a centre back line up similar to last week’s could easily render the previous 19 meetings between these two on this ground completely irrelevant.

Five minutes on Middlesbrough
Recent History: Boro are currently treading a well worn path that we have been down a few times ourselves. That is giving a manager a pre-season and summer transfer budget, and then sacking him after six weeks or so of the season and hoping a new man can mould the squad he inherits while trying to negotiate a Saturday-Tuesday laden fixture list. Steve Gibson is rightly renowned as a patient chairman but the timing of the Southgate sacking seems to be highly bizarre and Middlesbrough are at risk of wasting one of their two seasons with parachute payments currently lying tenth in the table.

Southgate was appointed as Boro boss in 2006 - a risky appointment lacking managerial experience or coaching badges. He succeeded Steve McLaren who has become a figure of fun in British football after his umbrella themed disaster as England coach but he did a good job at the Riverside where he won the League Cup in 2004, the club’s first major trophy, and enjoyed two dramatic runs through the UEFA Cup, getting all the way to the final in 2006. Boro were beaten 4-0 in the final by Sevilla and their remarkable run to Eindhoven wasn’t exactly a tactical master stroke on McLaren’s part - twice they retrieved three goal deficits in the second half of the second leg simply by throwing on every spare striker they could find and frankly even Kevin Keegan can come up with a tactical scheme like that.

Still credit where it is due, McLaren turned out to be a sound replacement for Boozy Bryan Robson and was a tough act to follow for Southgate. His appointment reminded me very much of our own disastrous choice to bring in Ray Wilkins when Gerry Francis left. Like Wilkins Southgate was a popular and long serving member of the playing staff lacking managerial experience and like Wilkins he suffered and eventually endured a relegation through a transfer policy that saw great players leave and mediocre ones come in to replace them. Wilkins replaced Les Ferdinand with Mark Hateley, Southgate replaced Yakubu and Viduka with Mido and Alfonso Alves - now seems as good an opportunity as any to slip in the classic “worst Brazilian since David Blunkett tried to shave his wife’s pubic hair” line.

Although he achieved two mid table finishes and decent FA Cup runs initially a summer of transfer activity in 2008 that saw Luke Young, Fabio Rochemback, Lee Cattermole, George Boateng and most importantly Mark Schwarzer leave all without adequate replacement weakened them fatally and they rarely looked like staying up last season.

Southgate was only Boro’s fourth manager since 1991, QPR have been through 13 i the same amount of time, and Steve Gibson is always held up as the ideal chairman who backs his manager and keeps faith with them. However surely if a fresh start and chance to rebuild is what the club was after then the time for change was in the summer. Gordon Strachan has been pitched into a club that is under achieving this season as a former Premiership side in the Championship, he has taken over a team built by Gareth Southgate and trained by Southgate over the summer, and he has been faced with two months of action before another transfer window opens up.

I remember when we did this trick, keeping Wilkins on after relegation only to sack him within a month, that we eventually missed out on the play offs because of the time it took Stewart Houston to settle in and assess his squad. There were no transfer windows in those days and the delay was down to Houston’s own pig headedness when every was screaming at him to get a striker, midfielder and full back signed up - when he eventually did bring in peacock and Spencer we achieved play off form for the rest of the season but it was too late. Boro are yet to win under Strachan and are currently tenth. The division is tight at the moment so they are still in touch but they may well look back at the end of the season at these games and realise that’s where the chance was lost, that and the persistence with Southgate through the summer.

Will do well to avoid being the next Charlton style “well run club” disaster as it stands at the moment.

The Manager: Gordon Strachan arrived at the Riverside five games ago and is yet to taste victory for the first time. That’s nothing new, he’s never won either of his first two games in charge at any club he has managed. Here’s an omen for you – he broke his duck at Southampton and Coventry at the fifth time of asking. As a player he won a the First Division title with Leeds, and the FA Cup with Manchester United – he made more than 150 appearances for both and scored 70 goals after 55 in 83 north of the border in Alex Ferguson’s impressive Aberdeen side where he won the league twice, the cup three times and the Cup Winners Cup. Strachan won 50 caps for Scotland when Scotland used to produce decent players. He finished his playing career with Coventry City and perhaps after playing under some great managers, and Howard Wilkinson, perhaps it was inevitable that he would move into management and he did so at Highfield Road.

Coventry were perennial relegation strugglers when he took over, and usually lucky bastards it has to be said, and he engineered an escape early on in his career when Middlesbrough went down instead having drawn on the final day and been deducted three points for failing to turn up for a game at Blackburn after a flu virus swept the camp. Had Boro shown up for that game with a youth team and lost 38-0 they would have stayed up. Ironic really considering where Strachan is now. He built an entertaining side at Coventry – I recall a thrilling 3-2 victory against Man Utd with Huckerby, Dublin and Hadji to the fore – but a rot set in as players were sold and Strachan was deeply unpopular with Sky Blues fans by the time they were relegated in 2001. Sacked shortly after the start of the 2001/02 campaign Strachan quickly jumped back on the horse at Southampton where he again did a fine job, taking them to the 2003 FA Cup final where they were beaten by Arsenal. He took a break from management from 2004 but returned 18 months later at Celtic. Martin O’Neill was a tough act to follow and despite winning three SPL titles, three cups and three manager of the year titles Celtic fans on radio phone in programmes (never a good barometer it must be said) rarely have a good word to say about him.

Middlesbrough is his fourth club and despite failings in the past and a poor start so far it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t been a success for the majority of his time at all three of his previous clubs.

Three to Watch: The biggest perceived threat to QPR this weekend, particularly with our recent new found fear of set pieces, is Boro’s target man Dave Kitson. QPR fans remember the carrot topped striker most from his time at Cambridge United where he came through the ranks around the same time QPR were relegated to the third tier in 2001. Cambridge were one of the league’s smaller clubs, relegated after just one season sharing the division with us, while we were seen as a slightly bigger fish. However in the game at Loftus Road (0-0) and the Abbey Stadium (2-1) it was Kitson who shone through as the genuine talent on show. He scored against us after just three minutes of the away game, a match better remembered for the antics of a mad police officer at the full time whistle, and although his team was relegated at the end of the season he had personally done enough to catch the eye of Reading and after increasing his U’s goal tally to 47 in 123 appearances he was picked up by the Royals for the bargain fee of £150k. It’s a move QPR really should have looked at at the time. That turned out to be a bargain with Kitson scoring 60 goals in his five years there and holding his own in the Premier League.

He was part of the great Reading exodus over the last 18 months and joined Stoke but yit’s a very specific type of player that fits into the Pulis Stoke side and although Kitson did seem to be finding his feet there this season it’s fair to say his £5m buy has been an unmitigated disaster for the Potters. A decent loan signing therefore for a Championship side and Boro have taken the plunge and given the player a chance to rebuild his reputation. Two goals at Peterborough last time out shows he means business and his height will trouble QPR if they defend as they did against Coventry last week.

Another new face is centre half Sean St Ledger who shrugged off his image as a boozed up trouble maker put forward by the infamous ‘Big Ron Manager’ programme that was filmed while he was at Peterborough to become a top centre half in this league at Preston North End. Boro took advantage of a tight cashflow situation at Deepdale to bring St Ledger in on loan prior to a permanent move anticipated in January but despite him already scoring twice (his threat from set pieces is known only too well to QPR fans who saw him score against us at Preston on the final day of last season) he has only played in three wins from his 11 games in red so far. Plenty good enough for this league but if Boro have ambitions to return to the big time in the near future he has shown on Republic of Ireland duty a worrying tendency to drop very deep and stand off his man when perhaps a little intimidated by a big name opponent.

Adam Johnson is coming of age this season after finally being freed of the Stewart Downing factor this summer. Johnson has been coveted by many clubs over the years, ourselves included, but apart from a very impressive loan spell with Watford has mostly had to make do with fleeting first team appearances in Downing’s absence. His presence makes the departure of Downing to Aston Villa less of an issue and he is arguably the best left winger in this league along with Chris Brunt at West Brom. QPR must stop Johnson, who has nine goals to his name already, more than anybody else.

Links >>> Middlesbrough Official Website >>> Boro Message Board

History
Recent Meetings:
Amazingly considering just how poor the QPR side was in 1997/98, and the fact that we played Boro three other times that season without success, the last time these sides met QPR ran out comprehensive 5-0 winners at Loftus Road. Rangers were fighting a relegation battle while Bryan Robson’s men were all set for a return to the Premiership. Ray Harford was forced into a change in the fifth minute when Mark Perry went off injured but his replacement, Paul Bruce, scored with a flukey cross as part of five goals in 20 minutes either side of half time. Though not on the score sheet, loaned Liverpool winger Mark Kennedy was at the heart of all good things QPR did, forcing an own goal out of Steve Vickers and having a hand in goals for Kevin Gallen and Mike Sheron.

QPR: Harper, Bardsley, Morrow, Kulcsar, Ready, Yates, Perry (Bruce), Quashie (Heinola), Sheron, Gallen (Slade) Kennedy
Bookings: Gallen, Yates
Goals: Vickers (og) 32, Bruce 37, Gallen 38, Sheron 45, 53

Middlesbrough: Dibble, Festa, Fleming, Vickers, Pearson (Maddison), Mustoe, Hignett (Armstrong), Townsend, Branca, Merson, Thomas (Beck)
Bookings:Townsend
Red cards: Townsend

Attendance: 11580

Just six weeks prior to the 5-0 rout QPR had meekly surrendered their place in the FA Cup to Boro at the Riverside Stadium. The late introduction of Kevin Gallen to the original third round tie had proved crucial as he scored to claim a 2-2 draw after John Spencer had given Rangers the lead. On a cold night in the north though it was all to no avail as Andy Campbell and Robbie Mustoe scored in four second half minutes to send the home side through.

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Stockdale, Harrison, Vickers, Festa, Maddison, Mustoe, Townsend, Campbell, Merson, Ormerod
Subs not used: Beck, Moreno, Hignett, Liddle, Fabio
Bookings: Festa
Goals: Campbell 54, Mustoe 59

QPR: Harper, Yates, Brevett (Barker), Quashie, Morrow, Ready, Spencer (Gallen), Peacock, Murray, Sheron, Sinclair
Subs not used: Bruce, Slade

Attendance: 21,817

Head to Head:
QPR wins - 13
Draws – 15
Middlesbrough wins – 11

Previous Results:
1997/98 QPR 5 Middlesbrough 0 (Sheron 2, Gallen, Bruce, Vickers og)
1997/98 Middlesbrough 2 QPR 0 (FA Cup replay)
1997/98 QPR 2 Middlesbrough 2 (FA Cup - Gallen, Spencer)
1997/98 Middlesbrough 3 QPR 0
1995/96 QPR 1 Middlesbrough 1 (McDonald)
1995/96 Middlesbrough 1 QPR 0
1992/93 Middlesbrough 0 QPR 1 (Ferdinand)
1992/93 QPR 3 Middlesbrough 3 (Ferdinand, Penrice, Sinton)
1988/89 QPR 0 Middlesbrough 0
1988/89 Middlesbrough 1 QPR 0

Links >>>  Match Report Archive

This Saturday
Team News:
To follow.

Elsewhere: The televised offering this weekend comes from Glanford Park on Sunday as struggling Coventry and Scunthorpe clash. We are on the box ourselves on Monday night but as that is technically a Tuesday fixture put back we’ll address that in our Watford preview which will be online whenever the hell I find a spare three hours in this two game weekend to write it. It’s a pretty run of the mill Saturday list with few stand out games – Newcastle host Watford while West Brom go to Derby. A midlands clash between play off rivals Forest and Leicester is about as good as it gets apart from our own match.

Referee: For the second time this season Rangers have Hertfordshire official Keith Hill in charge of their game – and Jim Magilton will be hoping for no repeat of the first. Hill was the man in the middle at Swansea back in October when both Martin Rowlands and Ben Watson were sent off in a 2-0 defeat. In fairness to the official though neither player could have any great complaint and they were victims of their own stupidity rather than poor refereeing. Click the link below for a full run down of Hill’s QPR history.

Links >>> Dean Sturridge Memorial Injury List >>> Arthur Gnohere Discipline Counter >>> Referee History >>> Referee League

Form
QPR: For a team sitting in fifth QPR have won a surprisingly small amount of home games. Beaten only by Leicester on our own patch so far but forced to settle for draws on five occasions by Peterborough and Forest who were unlucky not to win and Blackpool, Coventry and Palace who were lucky to escape with their dignity intact never mind a competition point Rangers must start to convert more chances and defend better if they are to cement a top five spot. That Leicester defeat was our only one at home in 15 games and Middlesbrough have not won here in 19 attempts including 4-0, 5-0 and 6-1 QPR wins.

Middlesbrough: Boro are yet to win under manager Gordon Strachan in four games and have never won a league fixture at Loftus Road. Yes kids, we’ve all seen this film before. Strachan has never won either of his first two games in charge of anybody but has twice broken his duck at the fifth attempt which doesn’t bode well for us on Saturday. Boro have already won four away games this season which is better than all but the top two and equalled only by ourselves and Cardiff. Having said that all of those wins came relatively early on with successes at Swansea and Scunthorpe in the first week quickly followed by wins at Sheff Wed and finally Reading at the beginning of October. Preston, Palace and Peterborough have taken points from them since.

Prediction: Accuse me of sitting on the fence if you like but I’m going for a draw again, a high scoring one. QPR are scoring lots and conceding silly ones as well. Not to put too fine a point on it because we’ve done it to death this week but I believe Magilton’s insistence that Fitz Hall plays whenever fit is the cause of the problems and as he has apparently managed to get through a week without pulling anything we’re stuck with him again this week. I’d therefore back Boro to score at least twice and us to do about the same.
Score draw

Links >>> Championship Table >>> Total Form >>> Home Form >>> Away Form >>> Prediction League >>> Fantasy League

Photo: Action Images



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